Medical marijuana bill introduced but unlikely to advance

Jan. 19, 2013

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Months after two states legalized marijuana within their borders, a lawmaker is seeking to authorize medical uses of the drug here in Iowa.

State Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, introduced a bill this week that would allow patients diagnosed with cancer, HIV, AIDS, ALS, Crohn’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease, among other illnesses, or who suffer from a medical condition or the treatment of a condition that causes “intractable pain” to be licensed to possess marijuana and not subject to arrest or prosecution.

“Iowans clearly want our state policy to be sensible and rooted in evidence. That’s why I’m introducing this medical marijuana legislation,” Hunter said in a statement released by the Marijuana Policy Project. “At this point, there’s no denying that marijuana helps alleviate the symptoms of a host of terrible diseases, many of which are notoriously difficult to treat.”

The bill calls for the creation of nonprofit dispensaries that would grow and sell the medical marijuana and related supplies.

The Marijuana Policy Project highlighted that finding this week, along with a 2010 Iowa Board of Pharmacy vote unanimously recognizing the drug’s medical value.

“The bill introduced by Rep. Hunter will bring Iowa in line with a growing number of states that recognize the medical efficacy of marijuana,” Robert Capecchi, deputy director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement. “There is no reason to let seriously ill patients continue to suffer in Iowa while the rest of the country adopts this type of sensible legislation.”

But the bill likely will not go anywhere. Hunter is in the minority in the House, and Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, indicated he has no interest in pursuing the issue.